Under an hour tuning (was labor rates)

[Farrell]

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"The way I think of it is that I simply make the same=20
amount of money in less time with a lesser piano."

"The finer instruments take more time and it costs=20
the customer more to have them serviced."

I'm really just trying to understand various philosophies for fee =
schedules. I know many techs basically sell a service call as a specific =
amount of time for a given fee. In that situation, the piano gets =
whatever it needs most in that amount of time - High-end grand or Betsy =
Ross spinet. I certainly understand Conrad's point about diminishing =
returns on tuning effort. But if one person is getting 2 hours service =
for $X, and another is getting only 1 hour service for the same $X, that =
seems less than fair to me. The two quoted statements above appear to =
contradict one another. In the first it appears that the console owner =
is getting lesser value than Mrs. DeepPockets. In the second, it appears =
that a greater fee is being charged for a higher level of service on the =
finer instrument. Please clarify.

The following frustrates me sometimes. I am still building my business. =
I am busy, but not so busy yet to be turning away business - so, yes, I =
still tune old uprights. My tuning skills have increased steadily, and =
the time required to do a tuning has decreased steadily. I wish we could =
charge strictly by the hour.

It is now common for me to tune - lets use the easiest piano in the =
world - a good-condition Yamaha P-22 in less than an hour (I think my =
record for an easy piano is about 42 minutes).

A bad console - i.e. 1959 Sorry & Yuck than has been mistreated - will =
take longer because, even with diminishing returns, it will be slower =
because of all the wierd noises. The bad console will take me 75 minutes =
on average.

The grand usually takes about 75 to 90 minutes. The good ones - I will =
spend more time with just becuase one can do a better job on them - =
takes longer to get to that point of diminishing return. The bad ones =
are no different from the bad console - sometimes even worse because of =
their age - but I guess those horizontal strings fog my thinking and I =
try a little harder on these (sometimes) than the bad console.

The old upright. The old upright. Geeeeezzz. The old upright. Hmmm. =
First you spend 20 minutes trying to talk the owner out of doing =
anything with it. After failure at that (although I do not always =
fail!), you tune three notes - pound in a tuning pin - tune a few more - =
now you gotta stop because you have a jack flange unglued - fix that - =
bla, bla, bla, - hammers flying off - bla, bla, bla, - you know the =
picture here - even though you charge extra to fix the jack flange and =
unglued hammer butt leather, and broken hammer, etc., etc., it still =
slows you down big time. I find that old uprights will take anywhere =
from 1 to 2 hours to tune - plus the repairs.
 =20
So here I tune pianos in 45 minutes to 2 hours and charge the same thing =
(actually I do charge the same for all except $5 more for spinets and =
$10 more for old uprights). This is dictated by piano owners expecting =
one price for tuning.

The point? Just trying to understand how others work some of this out. =
Thanks.

Terry Farrell
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Billbrpt@AOL.COM=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2001 12:32 AM
  Subject: Re: Under an hour tuning (was labor rates)


  In a message dated 8/4/01 11:19:37 PM Central Daylight Time,=20
  mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com (Farrell) writes:=20



    "Concert pianos on stages and console pianos in living rooms are not =
the=20
    same=20
    kinds of instruments.  I know, for example that when I am going to =
tune a=20
    Steinway grand in someone's home, the time I spend will be much =
more, maybe=20
    even double."=20

    Is that because a Steinway grand is harder to tune? Do you charge =
50% for=20
    the console? I don't understand your policy here. Please clarify. If =
my=20
    auto mechanic did a significantly better tune-up on my neighbor's =
new Lexus=20
    than on my 18-year-old car, I would not be happy with him/her at =
all. Is=20
    this what is going on here?


  I'd have to hand it to Conrad for answering the question quite well.  =
The way=20
  I think of it is that I simply make the same amount of money in less =
time=20
  with a lesser piano.  When people inquire about "How much does it cost =
to=20
  tune a piano?", you can't really start giving a list of sliding scale =
prices=20
  for various brands of pianos in various conditions.=20

  I spend more time on the Steinway or other fine grand because it and =
the=20
  customer deserves it.  You can't make a "furniture" piano sound much =
better=20
  than it will in 45 minutes, no matter what you do.  But that does not =
mean I=20
  disrespect the instrument nor the people who own it, I simply provide =
an=20
  appropriate level of service.  If the console or spinet piano needs =
cleaning,=20
  regulation, action tightening, alignment, voicing, etc., I use =
techniques=20
  which get the job done quickly and efficiently and for an appropriate =
fee.  =20
  The finer instruments take more time and it costs the customer more to =
have=20
  them serviced.=20

  Bill Bremmer RPT=20
  Madison, Wisconsin=20

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